Quick slum survey

24696 FIELD NOTE July 1997 UN DP- World Bank Water and Sanitation Program - ( South Asia T D LF G7 nvestment in urban unique distinction of having rated from citizens is seen by infrastructure is a the performance of urban services the Ahmedabad priority at the national in the poorest wards. The rating was Municipal Corporation and city levels. carried out by women from low- (AMC) in a positive light However, performance rating of the income communities. and is recieved as an services that these infrastructure It is useful to note at the outset input in further improving provide is rare. Ahmedabad has the that such constructive feedback urban planning and N~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ N I,N Women ollecing water from a tredtina wl  T management exercises. The AMC to the commencement of works The survey uses a t wanted to rate its services from the under Parivartan. combination of Focus point of view of the service users, Group Discussions, especially among the poor and The Communities employing open the women. Ten per cent households were headed by women and the majority questions, supplemented The Survey had between five to eight members, by household survey The survey uses a combination of with one having 13 members. In (covering a minimum 10 Focus Group Discussions, half the households, two family per cent of households) employing open questions, members were contributing to the supplemented by a household income (in the rest, either one or survey (covering a minimum 10 per three members contributed). The cent of households). The survey was largest single occupation group was administered in two slums: that of vegetable vendors (30 per Sinheshwari Nagar (42 households) cent), with many others in daily and Sharif Pathan ni Challi (105 wage activities in factories. Home- households). Both these slums are based cottage industry in the form situated on land belonging to the of agarbatti manufacture accounts Municipal Corporation. The Quick for 15 per cent of the workforce. Slum Survey was carried out prior There are very few technically skilled 1 .S ._ , , . - , ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~- ' 0 -:,,,, -" 'S -". I~~~__.C *, _ 4~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~a .. _u ; | ' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ' '~~~~~~~~~ ' ' - ' ' , W~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I ''''n' .,, W~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~I <~~~~~~~~~~~~~~C  workers (a total of six masons and one carpenter - in both the communities). I The Houses . Half the houses are kachcha (temporary) i structures. Forty per cent are semi-pucca (built of _-. mud-plastered brick) ' and only 10 per cent are __ pucca. Nevertheless, - three quarters of the ,t houses contain a TV set - _ and one in 1 0, an audio 1 cassette player. - - - Community Groups Both the communities ' exhibited a fair degree of communal Development scheme, despite the motivation. Both the communities fact that neither community has have a savings group or directly benefited to date. cooperative. While the group in Surprisingly, there are no facilities in Sinheshwari Nagar is newly either community provided by established (with intermediation elected representatives. from the Self Employed Women's Households are well informed Association), in Sharif Pathan ni about who provided the limited Challi, the group is three years old, services that are available. Both with a combined membership of 74. communities reported that they pay Seventeen women are members of an annual 'tax' of Rs 500 per these two groups. In addition, two household for all facilities. special Mandals exist, one in each Half the houses are community, to organize celebrations Water kachcha (temporary) during festivals. The household Water is provided at public structures. Forty per cent survey revealed that 85 per cent of standposts (three in a Iare semi-pucca (built of the population were members of Sinheshwari Nagar built in X some kind of slum-level group, and 1987, of which one is defunct, mud-plastered brick) one-third of the households had and two in Sharif Pathan ni and only 10 per cent are members who are involved in or Challi). The AMC is responsible pucca. But three willing to do voluntary work. for repairing the taps, but both quarters of the houses communities reported that they contain a TV set and one Services carry out the repairs There is a high level of awareness themselves to save time, since in 10, an audio of and high expectation from the the Corporation is sometimes cassette player Corporation's Urban Community slow to respond.  What will People Pay for Services? Installation (Rs) Maintenance (Rs/month) Private Public Private Public Sinheshwari Nagar 500 2000 10 10 Sharif Pathan ni Challi 500 500 5 5 Very Public Toilets Children are especially vulnerable Sanitation is minimal. In and sometimes end up with Sinheshwari Nagar, residents resort broken bones. to the nearby railway track to meet their needs. This leads to personal Better Services discomfort and mortification. The interest expressed in Furthermore, this open ground is improved services was very high. inaccessible during the monsoon. In In both the communities, Shorif Pathan ni Challi, there is a householders expressed a public latrine block provided by the preference for private' household village panchayat, but this is facilities and were seemingly willing inadequate for the population, to pay a signifcant amount towards rarely cleaned and consequently, this (see Table). virtually unuseable. Once again, Parivartan will eventually carry households must resort to using out this type of survey in all public space and wastelands. participating communities to provide a 'baseline' of data against Roads And Drains which the impact of Parivartan can Neither area has stormwater be measured. The survey may be drainage and the roads are all administered by a selection of the kachcha (temporary and unpaved). project partners as appropriate. During the rainy season, accidents are common in the muddy lanes. July 1997 For further information, please contact: Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (Slum Networking Project) Sardar Patel Bhawan, Danapith, Ahmedabad 380 001, INDIA Tel: (91)-(0)79-5353 611; Fax: (91)-(0)79-5350 Email: mctiger@adl.vsnl.net.in UNDP-World Bank Water and Sanitation Program - South Asia 55 Lodi Estate, New Delhi 110 003, INDIA Tel: (91)-(0)11-469 0488/9; Fax: 462 8250 Email: wspsa@worldbank.org Designed and Produced by Media Workshop India Pvt Ltd.